Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that the recognition and participation of indigenous and local knowledge holders is a pivotal precondition to co-produce meaningful Nature-based Solutions interventions and policies to achieve socio-environmental justice.

Paper long abstract:

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have excelled in climate policy as alternatives to achieving social, economic and environmental sustainability through the efficient management of nature and ecosystem services to solve environmental problems. A famous example of successful NbS is the use of mangrove plantations to protect coastal areas erosion and flooding. Nevertheless, NbS interventions do not provide social justice in and of themselves. The potential for the neoliberalisation of nature within NbS interventions can produce unbalanced trade-off affecting the poorer and marginalised population and exacerbate inequalities. This is related to critiques about the need for broad participation and adaptive governance of NbS. According to The World Bank, 15% of the world’s population living in poverty are indigenous people despite making up only 6.5% of the total population. Paradoxically, indigenous people safeguard 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity in their territories which places them under constant threats. This paper argues that the recognition and participation of indigenous and local knowledge holders (ILK) is a pivotal precondition to co-produce meaningful NbS interventions and policies to address socio-environmental justice. This hypothesis stems from a combined lens between Schlosberg's environmental justice theory and Fricker's epistemic justice theory. This paper presents two main contributions that the incorporation of ILK can provide to NbS. i)A holistic approach in contrast to reductionist approaches towards biodiversity and ecosystem management. ii) In addition, by considering local communities as self-organising systems there is potential to maximise the impact of co-management models in the local context if they are given proper autonomous leadership.